HYPERPLAY CELEBRATES YOUTH ON DAY 1 OF ASEAN’S FIRST ESPORTS AND MUSIC FESTIVAL

MTV Spotlight @ Hyperplay 2018

Hyperplay, the first ever integrated ASEAN esports and music festival happening at the Singapore Indoor Stadium, brought together avid fans on its first day, living up to the expectations of the festival’s hype and thrills. In celebration of our youths, fans got to immerse themselves in a range of esports action and music performances – the two key cultural cornerstones of the generation.

Hyperplay kicked off with the first ASEAN League of Legends semi-finals with Malaysia’s Kuala Lumpur Hunters taking on Philippines’ Acclaim Empire X.After three intense rounds of powerplay, the Malaysians came out on top with a 2 – 1 victory over their ASEAN counterparts, sealing a spot in tomorrow’s grand finals.

Hyperplay 2018

In the first round, Team Philippines drafted crowd control that quickly shut down the Malaysians with 24 kills. Team Malaysia then turned the tables in the second game, after back-and-forth team fights led by Qaspiel. As the most-fed player, Qaspiel carried the team to a convincing comeback victory. While Team Philippines was more aggressive in initiating team fights and ambushes, Team Malaysia showcased a more dominant, synergetic team play in the third and final game, to take the overall victory.

“I think our team’s jungling* takes the largest credit for this victory – our overall performance was on-form and we went all out. I love to play Kai’Sa to take on the frontline and attack the opponents’ backline when they are off-guard,” said OzoraVeki, team captain of Team Malaysia.

“Hyperplay is one of the best LoL tournaments in Southeast Asia we've competed in as it is the first time it has brought together teams from the 10 ASEAN nations. We not only interacted with other League talents, but also had the chance to discover what Singapore has to offer as a city during the tours organized for us,” he added.

Guest-of-Honour, Deputy Prime Minister, Teo Chee Hean then officially opened the show where he introduced and presented the inaugural Hyperplay trophy – which the winning team of the tournament will walk away with – before he signalled the official start with ‘Let’s Hyperplay’.

MTV Spotlight @ Hyperplay 2018

Kicking off the 1st MTV Spotlight, The Sam Willows took the crowd through an adventurous journey with a nine-track set. The quartet wasted no time in getting the party started by opening up the show with a good collection of their past and present upbeat hits – All Time High (led by Benjamin), Baby Don’t Shy, Keep Me Jealous and Thirsty. Once they established their presence, the quartet brought the tempo down with their more emotionally raw numbersSave Myself and Robot from their latest sophomore album, tugging on the heartstrings of everyone in attendance. From there, the audience was treated to a guitar solo introduction by Jon that led into their dance-worthy number Papa Money that is currently taking over the airwaves. The foursome closed out the set with their hits For Love and Take Heart, from their previous debut album, right before an injured Narelle was piggy-backed onto Sandra for their exit.

Turning the focus back to esports, Singapore’s Sovereign put up a commendable effort against favourites, Vietnam’s Super Star Destroyers. However, it still wasn’t quite enough to match up to the sheer might of Team Vietnam as they quickly clinched victory in the first game, which took just 25 minutes. Led by Artemis – the main carry of the team – the Vietnamese set the pace of the game with a couple of fallback strategies that Sovereign failed to keep up with.

Team Singapore came alive in the second game as Yone stole Artemis’ thunder, displaying stylish gameplay against Artemis head-on. Despite engaging in an extremely close battle with Vietnam, Singapore ultimately fell short, as the former secured the win, extending their undefeated streak in the process. Team Vietnam will now face Team Malaysia in tomorrow’s grand finals.

“In the first half of the second game, our team made dire mistakes but we drove the gameplay with tenacity and grit. Nonetheless, I am very happy to have won the game. We were a little nervous but now look forward to take on Malaysia tomorrow,” said Vormund of Super Stars Destroyers.

Right after the 2^nd semi-finals match, CL showcased why she’s indeed Asia's Baddest Female as she returned to Singapore on the MTV Spotlight stage. She immediately ushered in her unique brand of intensity with her opening catchy, hip hop track, The Baddest Female, getting fans up on their feet upon get go. Her 13-track set only intensified with immense energy levels with each song performance. Taking a moment to greet her ‘GZBs’ fans in Singapore, she performed Ain’t No Better Feeling for the first time since going solo as a gift to her fans. CL’s high-octane energy was undoubtable as she performed dance hit after hit while a hyped up crowd happily sang and danced along to – Dirty Vibe, Lifted, Come Back Home, Gotta Be You, Falling In Love, Dr Pepper, MTBD, ₩1,000,000 and Can’t Nobody. CL was on fire with her performance of Hello Bitches, which was aptly accompanied by a pyrotechnic display and fireballs going off on stage. Epitomising true female prowess, she ended her set with I Am the Best, while her fans continued to roar in wild frenzy.

Stay tuned for Day 2, as performances on the MTV Spotlight stage by Indonesian idol Afgan and Thailand’s leading rock band Slot Machine will continue the music high, to set the mood for the Finals and the eventual League of Legends ASEAN Champion. As a festival finale, celebrate with Nick Jonas andAlessia Cara at the first ever integrated esports and music event in the region.

In celebration of ASEAN Singapore 2018 and part of YOUTH^x, Hyperplay is powered by Riot Games and MTV, presented by the MCCY and the NYC, and supported by gold sponsor Clear Men and official Telco partner Singtel. Patrons will be able to catch full set live performances by all acts for the MTV Spotlight stage hosted by MTV VJ Hanli Hoefer.